On a whim Friday night, Jonathan Sixt called the Torrey Pines golf reservation line and got a 7:30 a.m. tee time for yesterday. He thought he'd be playing nine holes, since the full 18 on the North had been closed for seven months for the preparation and aftermath of the 2008 U.S. Open played in June.
Much to Sixt's delight, when he got to the starter's window he was told all 18 holes had been reopened.
His response?
“Sweet.”
Some 4½ hours later, Sixt was even happier. The Rancho Bernardo resident with a 12 handicap added up his scorecard and had shot a lifetime-best 79 on the North. By contrast, a couple of weeks after the Open, he had played the brutish South Course and scored 20 shots worse with a 99.
“The North Course is a lot more fun,” Sixt said.
It is why San Diego residents have been counting the days to get their entire North Course back. Nine holes were closed just days after the PGA Tour's Buick Invitational was played last January, and though nine holes were available for much of the buildup during the Open, the course's most scenic portion was off-limits, and it was not the same experience.
“I was kind of upset that they had to close it down,” Sixt said.
His reaction now?
“I think it definitely was worth the sacrifice of the North Course for what they did for the Open,” he said.
During the Open, the North Course's fairways were the site of thousands of square feet of corporate villages, media center, merchandise pavilion, driving range, vendor staging, parking and a shuttle drop-off zone. In some areas, it was completely unrecognizable as a golf course.
Then when the Open left and the tents were torn down, there were acres of distressed turf. Asphalt roads built just for the Open had to be torn up. For a layman, it looked like it might be many months before the North could even reopen.
City Golf Manager Jon Maddern and his staff have pursued an aggressive overseeding and water plan, and while the course is far from pristine, it is back to being playable 75 days after Tiger Woods' Monday playoff triumph over Rocco Mediate.
“I would have loved to have it filled in more,” Maddern said. “But to be quite honest, I'm surprised we were able to meet our deadline with everything that had to be done out here. We're looking forward to welcoming people back, and by the end of September the battle scars will be hard to detect.”
Charles Gersbach of San Diego, whose office building overlooks the ninth fairway of the South Course, made the North his nine-hole playground over the past seven months and enjoyed the smaller crowds. He paid his $27 and played nine again yesterday and said of the quick recovery, “It's kind of ridiculous. Everything here was brown three weeks ago.”
Not everyone was pleased with the experience. Several golfers interviewed complained about the condition of the fairways affected by Open infrastructure, and that golf carts were required to stay on the path. Maddern said that will be the case through the 2009 Buick Invitational because the grass needs time to fully recover.
“Dog track,” said one golfer who declined to give his name. “The greens are in great shape, but the fairways are a drag.
“I'm actually pretty (mad). I want to ask for my money back. They need to tell us about the condition before we go out.”
Sixt, who didn't use a cart and carried his clubs, was stunned by the negative reaction.
“I was pretty surprised at how good (the condition) was,” he said.
Maddern said PGA Tour agronomist Tom Brown visited Torrey Pines last week and was pleased with the progress the course has made. He added there are no concerns about the North's ability to host portions of the first two rounds of the '09 Buick, scheduled for Feb. 5-8.
Tod Leonard: (619) 293-1858; tod.leonard@uniontrib.com
